Kirk Nylen

I had the pleasure of working with Don from 2011-2016 during his tenure as Founding President and Scientific Director at the Ontario Brain Institute. After his retirement, I continued to meet with Don regularly for monthly mentorship sessions, which turned into discussions about life and sampling microbrew or scotches. He brought energy and vivaciousness to all discussions. During this time Don taught me much of what I know about management and leadership. Some of his teachings stemmed from his research on frontal lobe function, while others are lessons he learned from his own life - things he wanted others to "get right". These "gifts" will live on and be shared with all of those who Don mentored. I wanted to share these gifts here.

"The Gifts of Don"

Principles Principles Principles
- Rather than setting hard and fast rules start with principles that everyone can buy in to
- “How is it that we want to be?”

Context Context Context
- Critical to set the stage for any discussion
- Ensures people are on same page

Giddy-up vs. whoa
- Managing energization is essential to getting the most out of people
- Everyone has a unique curve
- You can manage this curve - shift it through things like task setting
- Bring energy with you - Don always brought energy to meetings

Celebrating success
- Part of managing energy and motivation

Acknowledge success
- Not just most recent - need to acknowledge the distance traveled

Value of ownership
- Trying to convince people to do something can work
- But giving someone ownership of something is enduring

Hiring well
- It’s better to not hire than to hire the wrong person
- The first question should be: will this person buy into our principles? (vs. are they the most experienced, fastest, etc.)

Managing up, down, and across
- To clear a path toward success you need to manage up, down, and across
- You also need to allow yourself to be managed

Work / life balance
- Don only threatened to fire me once. My life was not in balance. He insisted I be home for dinner ever night with my family. If he sensed I was neglecting them, he would no longer require my services :)
- He followed with "you can work until 4am if you need to, but you need to spend evenings with your family"

The importance of relationships
- Relationships are foundational to working together and having impact

Hugs vs hammers
- The Don Stuss hug - kindness and humanity are the best tools in getting things done
- Bringing people into the fold
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​What incredible insight and wisdom. Gifts that Don gave us. I will never forget his teachings, his smile, his wisdom, and his love of life. They have forever shaped who I am. Ya tebe looblyoo Danilo.